Expedition to the Legends
by R.H.RyuTaka
Summary: It's 1900 and young archeaologist Ryo Bakura has been ordered by the Queen of England to go to Egypt to see what he can uncover from the mysterious ruins with a team of international archealogists along for the ride.
1. London: City of Falling Books and Papers

Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! ...that was easy...

Anyways, I blame the fact that I've been watching the History channel a bit too much...among other things. This takes place in the 1900s and has a few actual historical facts which I may have gotten wrong or twisted on accident. I've honestly tried to do this right. Hrmm...what else...well I guess review if I missed to explain anything that you would like to know...Other than that, read and enjoy! D

**London, England**

The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology (1) may have been immature at the time of its eighth year, yet if the Queen needed one of its professors, then by God she would get one. This is where the messenger found himself in the Malet Place (2) building. He was sent there much earlier that day to deliver the news to one of the newest professors.

According to how the curator indicated where his office was, he was not truly accepted. It was rumored that he was mixed of Japanese and English decent, which by the sound of his name, would fit. It was highly unusual for such a mix with the Japanese just now integrating with the rest of the world. (3) Nonetheless, he was who the Queen wanted.

He found the door with frosted glass window. On the door inscribed were the words: Ryo Bakura, Ph.D. He could tell that the professor was in due to the fact that there was a faint glow of lighting from inside. He knocked politely at first on the door. Suddenly there was a crashing sound coming from the office. The messenger decided that a quick peek inside was in order.

He creaked to door open to see a pile of newly fallen books and papers in a heap next to a desk. They appeared to have fallen off a stack on the bookshelf which apparently was undergoing a renovation. The messenger came in fully and closed the door behind him. He started to inch towards the heap, then took a few steps back when there was movement underneath.

He decided to call out. "Is everything alright there, gov?"

"Just smashing," replied the heap. "I seem to be stuck, however. Would you be of assistance?"

The messenger let out a sigh. The accent was British. He set the letter he was to deliver after finding some clear spot on the desk and went to the heap. He started to pull out a few books and set them on an empty chair next to him. The heap's movement started to become more fluid and soon there was a hand from the inside of it helping to shift the books and papers away from him. After a few moments of digging, a body emerged.

The professor stood up and began to dust himself off. He wore a now wrinkled dark blue three piece suit of the time, minus the sack coat which was hanging from a peg on the wall. (4) He started to straighten the waistcoat giving the messenger time to get an overall impression of this man.

He was young, this caught the messenger off guard due to the fact that he thought he would be dealing with an older gentlemen. He had long white hair hastily thrown back into a loose ponytail, very different from the shorter hair styles that were in fashion at the time. He had deep brown eyes which continued to glance at the newly formed mess that did seem to fit the way the office was. He sighed while shaking his head. He drew his attention to the messenger.

"Terribly sorry for disturbing you," the messenger apologized.

"Nothing to be sorry about," the professor beamed. "I tend to get caught up in my work. Your knock only startled me slightly."

If by startling meant dealing with mounds of books and papers falling on top of you, the messenger took it as a sign of a truly dedicated cluttered professor then.

"You are Professor Ba-" the messenger was having a little trouble. The name was new to him, and new to the time. Not many people would have the idea on how to pronounce this name. He did not want to offend the professor in anyway.

"Bakura," the professor went over to the chair where the messenger had set the books and cleared it off while dragging it in front of the desk. "You can call me Ryo if that makes it any easier. Have a seat if you will."

"Quite an unusual name," the messenger gratefully took the seat.

"Well," Ryo sighed. "When you have a father who is Japanese and a mother who is English, you tend to get mixed reaction. (5) Thank you for your help by the way."

"Just trying to help a fellow out," the messenger was relieved. "How long have you lived in London?"

Ryo sat on the edge of the desk. "Most of my life. This is the first time that I've lived on this side of town."

"A native."

"You almost sound relieved."

"Ah- well-" the messenger coughed to hide his embarrassment. "For this particular assignment, I thought it would be better."

"Assignment?"

The messenger went to reach for the letter in his sack coat's inside pocket. It wasn't there. He continued to search for only to see Ryo hand it over to him.

"That's yours," the messenger was notably embarrassed.

"We all have those moments," Ryo chuckled while glancing to the pile of books and papers. He started to open the letter and read it silently to himself.

The messenger took great pride in delivering post from the Queen. He was greatly amused by the different reactions that the general public had when they realized who the letter was from. Ryo's eyes had become brighter from excitement. The messenger crossed his legs waiting for the normal response.

"From the Queen?" Ryo asked nearly jumping as a child would when they received some very good news.

"Her majesty herself," the messenger nodded. He'd been through this routine thousands of times, give or take a few hundred.

He watched how Ryo continued to read it again and again. A few more times would do it. The messenger waited patiently.

"We will need your reply immediately," the messenger's tone went urgent. "If you are to accept we have a boat waiting for you. If not, we will need to know at once if we are to need to search for other candidates."

"I-I don't know what to say," Ryo folded the paper back up and slipped into the envelope. "Other than I'm honored."

"Most people are sir," the messenger nodded. "You're answer?"

"Of course," Ryo was eager. "Anything for my country."

The messenger took his leave after briefing the young archeologist professor. Ryo continued to ask several questions many of which he would stumble over due to his own excitement. The case was rather simple: A funded expedition with other archeologists from around the world. The top team of these archeologist would go to the mystic land of Egypt to uncover some newly found mysteries for their countries. Many of these people would be doing it for the adventure, others would follow for the glory, yet still there were those who did it for profit.

The messenger pondered just what adventures this grouping would come into.

* * *

Now for where I try to make sense of my historical notes…

(1) From my sources, the museum was founded in 1892, near the UCL science library and Gower Street in London. It started as a teaching resource for the Department of Egyptian Archaeology and Philology at University College. The museum today contains over 80,000 historical items and ranks amongst one of the worlds leading collections of Egyptian ancient historical items.

(2) Location of Petrie. (That's really all I have the location to the museum in London)

(3)1900s was Japan's Meiji era, which was the transition from Japan's feudal period into its modernized period. The United States Navy ended Japan's sakoku policy and its isolation in 1855. Sakoku was the isolation plan of the Japanese for their foreign policy. Yeah, mini history lesson.

(4) Basically consisted of a sack coat with matching waistcoat and trousers. Very simple, but easier to describe here than up there I think…

(5) Had to have some way to describe how he's British. I think that it makes some sense, but not for this time period. We're just going to call this a plot device and carry on.

* * *

I'm afraid I won't know when I will have the next chapter ready, but I will try. I still have school and midterms are creping up and are ready to maul us so this may take some time. Sorry!


	2. Travel Days Brew

A few days after the messenger had taken the reply back to Her Majesty, the project got underway. The Queen herself was ecstatic over the newly funded expedition, and so she wanted the news of progress as quick as possible. She sent another letter out with this command along with other information the professor would need the very day which the expedition was to start.

The messenger had the honor for which to deliver the roster of archaeologists to accompany the good professor. He arrived in the horse drawn cabbie at Dover Port (1) the very day which Ryo was supposed to meet the boat to France. He saw the professor along with his belongs awaiting his ship at the harbor. The messenger stopped the cabbie and got out to greet him.

"Good day," the messenger had caught Ryo by surprise.

Ryo fumbled with his papers for travel to set them straight again. "Good day to you too, it seems you've caught me off my guard again."

"Yes, sorry about that," the messenger removed his bowler hat. He pulled out the letter from his coat's pocket. "I have here the roster for the expedition. Each person is listed by who they are and their role to play."

"It seems that every one has been handpicked," Ryo said while accepting the letter. He would look it over later during his short trip across the channel into France.

"Of course. The Queen herself and the royal advisors (2) have been hard at work for getting the best of the best for Her expedition."

"I understand completely. Nothing like having the cream of the crop for a major case like this."

The harbor master came to them. He combed his hair back with his fingers upon seeing the royal emblem on the messenger.

"Professor," the harbor master croaked. "You're ferry awaits."

The professor and the messenger said their farewells as the harbor master awaited to lead the way. Once Ryo saw fit that the messenger got into the cabbie and was leaving, he turned his attention to the letter.

It felt as if it was in the same thick parchment that the other letter was addressed in. The wax royal emblem was on the tongue of the envelope. He was in dreadful curiosity to open it, but after looking upon the skies decided against it. It seemed as if England was to weep at his departure. Ryo couldn't suppress a chuckle at the thought. No one here would miss him after all.

The quick jump from Dover to Calais did not hold anything too eventful. Ryo spent far more time with the captain asking several too many questions about the ferry's transportation ability than he would have thought given the letter. (3) He stepped off the ferry on French soil.

He looked briskly around to take in his surroundings as his luggage was being loaded in the French carriage. He was to take this to the train station near the Bassin Carnot. (4) As he was called to the carriage, he decided that he would look over the papers from the Queen on his trip there.

Ryo barely said where he was supposed to be going, but the driver seemed to know very well. It almost appeared that the driver had a smug smirk on him when Ryo had climbed into the carriage. Whatever it was about, Ryo wasn't sure. Yet it became clear when he started to look over the papers. There was to be a Frenchman on the expedition. So it was a sense of nationalism to cause the smirk. Ryo felt relieved. At least it was the same for those of London as well.

After the Frenchman, there were two Americans. Ryo scoffed, why would they need two Americans. It then became clear to him after he read the role of the two. One was an archaeologist not unlike himself, the other was a photographer. It would make sense to have visual documentation over the expedition. For this Ryo had packed several sketch books. It seemed they may not be needed after all, yet that wouldn't stop him from sketching what he found. He had no real trust with the technology of photography just yet. Perhaps he could ask the photographer about the techniques during the trip through France.

The next listing of travelers struck Ryo as odd. Both were German. This wasn't what was odd about it. One was a Physician who Ryo had faintly heard his name from somewhere before. It was the other German who Ryo had thought odd. He did not have a full description of his role, but he seemed to be the assistant to the Physician. Ryo figured that going into unknown territory would lead to unearthing unknown ailments which would affect their health so a Physician would be rather helpful to the team. But an assistant? From the looks of things, it seemed that they were brothers. Ryo shrugged and figured that it wasn't his place to wonder what the deal was with the German brothers.

Next came two Japanese persons. One was an archaeologist and the other was his assistant. There was not much other than that about them in the letter. It wasn't too uncommon though. Even if it was rather vague, Ryo was sure that they wouldn't be on this list if they didn't have something to contribute. Even if it was just foreign policy. (5)

Lastly was the name of an Egyptian who Ryo took it to be the guide for the expedition. He felt rather guilty about raiding into Egypt, being lead by a native to pillage the tombs of that native's ancestor. But this was for the Queen after all. (6) And if the guide was doing this willingly, he figured that the native's wanted to learn about their past as much as the rest of the world wanted too.

The carriage came to a halt, jerking Ryo away from his thoughts.

The driver turned around. "_Nous sommes Arrivés._" (7)

Ryo looked a bit confused, he barely understood French. He looked out of the carriage to see the train station and understood.

"Oh," Ryo spoke under breath. It had been his own embarrassment not to learn French even though there was the proximity to the native land of the language.

The driver had gotten out of his seat to gather Ryo's things out of the carriage for him to get on the train. Ryo stepped out of the carriage himself and faced the railway station. It seemed rather normal enough, not that one would expect a group of archaeologists to gather for what could possibly be one of the greatest expeditions in Egypt since Hawara. (8) The driver had finished setting the luggage on the trolley that was handy for the driver. He pushed the trolley next to Ryo.

Ryo saw this and quickly tried to think of something to say. For the love of God he couldn't think of the French word for thank you.

"Its merci," the Frenchman gestured with a slight mocking bow. "For an English man, I am surprised you didn't know that."

"Right," Ryo set that back into his memory for future use with the French archaeologist. He was not oblivious to the mocking from the driver, and the driver showed no sign of hiding it. (9)

The driver left Ryo standing in front of the train station with the trolley of luggage. It was only the first moment of the adventure, and already Ryo was excited to start. He placed his hand on the cold metal of the trolley and pulled it behind him, and stepped foot into the train station. (10)

* * *

Now class! My mini-explanation of things! (remember, not all info may be right. I've tried my best with information gathering, but feel free to message me for corrections.)

(1) Most commonly used port between England and France, or at least most famous. The Port of Dover is one of the sites linked to World War II. With the Dover Quad pillbox for anti-invasion protection.

(2) Not really sure if the queen would have advisors, or if I'm using advisors as a synonym for Parliament.

(3) The anime didn't really elaborate much on Ryo's personality as much as the manga did. In the manga he seems to be more curious and wanting to know about the items. It might be just me, but I see him more as a curious scholar than a mousy host for the spirit of the ring. I only wish Ryo had more chances to prove himself…oh well. That's what fanfics are for right? ;

(4) Closest thing I could place to the railway near the Calais port. The map I was working with really wouldn't give much of a detail than that.

(5) By Foreign Policy, I mean that England's extending this expedition to Japan to make a better foreign social gesture or something.

(6) Nothing like good old nationalism to put your own guilt aside, no? I'm sure that there were some archaeologist that felt rather bad about excavating the tombs of the ancestors of another culture, but you don't really hear that much about that guilt when they post their findings until later on in history.

(7) French: We have arrived.

(8) Hawara had its first excavations in 1843 by Karl Lepsius. Then in 1888, William Flinders Petrie (My doesn't that sound familiar?) found papyri of the first and second centuries and north of the very pyramid, a vast necropolis with 146 portraits on coffins going back through the Roman period. Now why mention this and not the infamous Tut? Because, the story takes place seven years before Tut. That's why. I stumbled upon that in researching for the writing…I was going to mention Tut, then found that little kink in the historical storyline chain.

(9) Hostility between the French and English. Yes indeed. There has been a long history of conflict between the two. Even before the Battle of Hastings, when the Duke of Normandy (a vassal of the French King) decided to be king of England. After that, it rather went downhill with more wars and the British hostility towards the Catholic Church somewhere in the 1800s didn't improve the relationship. This will be picked up again with the French Archaeologist later on in the story, all I can say is that Ryo's in for some rough times ahead.

(10) End of chapter two! For the reviewer who is still awaiting who the other archaeologists, next chapter you will meet them. Brownie points if anyone can guess who they are by the descriptions! 3


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